# 1974 Green Bay Packers season

The 1974 Green Bay Packers season was their 56th season overall and their 54th season in the National Football League. The team finished with a 6–8 record under fourth-year head coach Dan Devine, a consecutive third-place finish in the NFC Central division. The Packers lost their last three games, all to non-playoff teams.
After Week 6, the 3–3 Packers traded five future draft picks to the Los Angeles Rams for veteran quarterback John Hadl, who had recently been benched in favor of James Harris. The trade occurred the day after the Packers' offense (under quarterback Jerry Tagge) managed only three field goals in a 10–9 road loss to rival Chicago on Monday night. The Packers had defeated the Rams 17–6 in Milwaukee the week prior, intercepting four passes.
With a year remaining on his five-year contract, Devine resigned a day after the last game of the regular season and returned to college football at Notre Dame, following the sudden retirement of Ara Parseghian. Devine was succeeded as head coach at Green Bay by Hall of Fame quarterback Bart Starr, hired on Christmas Eve.

## Offseason
### Draft

1974 Green Bay Packers draft :
| Round | Pick | Player | Position | College |
| 1 | 12 | Barty Smith | Fullback | Richmond |
| 5 | 116 | Steve Odom * | Wide receiver | Utah |
| 6 | 134 | Don Woods | Running back | New Mexico |
| 6 | 142 | Ken Payne | Wide receiver | Langston |
| 7 | 168 | Bart Purvis | Offensive tackle | Maryland |
| 8 | 194 | Monte Doris | Linebacker | USC |
| 9 | 220 | Harold Holton | Offensive guard | UTEP |
| 10 | 246 | Doug Troszak | Defensive tackle | Michigan |
| 11 | 272 | Eric Torkelson | Running back | UConn |
| 12 | 298 | Randy Walker | Punter | Northwestern State |
| 13 | 324 | Emmanuel Armstrong | Linebacker | San Jose State |
| 14 | 350 | Andrew Neloms | Defensive tackle | Kentucky State |
| 15 | 376 | Dave Wannstedt | Offensive tackle | Pittsburgh |
| 16 | 402 | Mark Cooney | Linebacker | Colorado |
| 17 | 428 | Randall Woodfield | Wide receiver | Portland State |
| Made roster † Pro Football Hall of Fame * Made at least one Pro Bowl during career ||||||

### Undrafted free agents

1974 Undrafted Free Agents of note :
| Player | Position | College |
| Tyrone Byrd | Wide receiver | Dartmouth |
| John Cherry | Quarterback | Missouri |

## Regular season
### Schedule

| Week | Date | Opponent | Result | Record | Venue | Attendance |
| 1 | September 15 | Minnesota Vikings | L 17–32 | 0–1 | Lambeau Field | 56,267 |
| 2 | September 22 | at Baltimore Colts | W 20–13 | 1–1 | Memorial Stadium | 41,252 |
| 3 | September 29 | Detroit Lions | W 21–19 | 2–1 | Milwaukee County Stadium | 47,292 |
| 4 | October 6 | Buffalo Bills | L 7–27 | 2–2 | Lambeau Field | 56,267 |
| 5 | October 13 | Los Angeles Rams | W 17–6 | 3–2 | Milwaukee County Stadium | 47,499 |
| 6 | October 21 | at Chicago Bears | L 9–10 | 3–3 | Soldier Field | 50,623 |
| 7 | October 27 | at Detroit Lions | L 17–19 | 3–4 | Tiger Stadium | 51,775 |
| 8 | November 3 | Washington Redskins | L 6–17 | 3–5 | Lambeau Field | 56,267 |
| 9 | November 10 | Chicago Bears | W 20–3 | 4–5 | Milwaukee County Stadium | 46,567 |
| 10 | November 17 | at Minnesota Vikings | W 19–7 | 5–5 | Metropolitan Stadium | 47,924 |
| 11 | November 24 | San Diego Chargers | W 34–0 | 6–5 | Lambeau Field | 56,267 |
| 12 | December 1 | at Philadelphia Eagles | L 14–36 | 6–6 | Veterans Stadium | 42,030 |
| 13 | December 8 | at San Francisco 49ers | L 6–7 | 6–7 | Candlestick Park | 47,475 |
| 14 | December 15 | at Atlanta Falcons | L 3–10 | 6–8 | Atlanta Stadium | 10,020 |
    Monday (October 21)
Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

### Game summaries
#### Week 1 vs Vikings

| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Vikings | 3 | 7 | 13 | 9 | 32 |
| Packers | 0 | 10 | 0 | 7 | 17 |
at Lambeau Field, Green Bay, Wisconsin
* Date: September 15
* Game time: 1:00 p.m. CST
* Game weather: 60 °F (16 °C)
* Game attendance: 56,267
* Box Score
Game information :
First quarter
MIN – Fred Cox 20-yard field goal. Vikings 3–0. Drive:
Second quarter
GB – Chester Marcol 19-yard field goal. Tie 3–3. Drive:
GB – John Brockington 5-yard run (Chester Marcol kick). Packers 10–3. Drive:
MIN – Chuck Foreman 18-yard run (Fred Cox kick). Tie 10–10. Drive:
Third quarter
MIN – Chuck Foreman 1-yard run (Fred Cox kick). Vikings 17–10. Drive:
MIN – Chuck Foreman 3-yard run (kick failed). Vikings 23–10. Drive:
Fourth quarter
MIN – Fred Cox 21-yard field goal. Vikings 26–10. Drive:
GB – Steve Odom 18-yard run (Chester Marcol kick). Vikings 26–17. Drive:
MIN – Amos Martin 15-yard fumble return (kick failed). Vikings 32–17.
Top passers
MIN – Fran Tarkenton – 14/23, 116 yards, INT
GB – Jerry Tagge – 9/20, 102 yards, 3 INT
Top rushers
MIN – Chuck Foreman – 22 rushes, 67 yards, 3 TD
GB – John Brockington – 18 rushes, 53 yards, TD
Top receivers
MIN – Chuck Foreman – 5 receptions, 32 yards
GB – Barry Smith – 2 receptions, 29 yards :

#### Week 2 at Colts

| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Packers | 3 | 10 | 7 | 0 | 20 |
| Colts | 3 | 3 | 0 | 7 | 13 |
at Memorial Stadium, Baltimore, Maryland
* Date: September 22
* Game time: 2:00 p.m. EST
* Game weather: 61 °F (16 °C)
* Game attendance: 41,252
* Box Score
Game information :
First quarter
GB – Chester Marcol 52-yard field goal. Packers 3–0. Drive:
BAL – Toni Linhart 37-yard field goal. Tie 3–3. Drive:
Second quarter
GB – MacArthur Lane 1-yard run (Chester Marcol kick). Packers 10–3. Drive:
GB – Chester Marcol 39-yard field goal. Packers 13–3. Drive:
BAL – Toni Linhart 23-yard field goal. Packers 13–6. Drive:
Third quarter
GB – MacArthur Lane 13-yard run (Chester Marcol kick). Packers 20–6. Drive:
Fourth quarter
BAL – Bill Olds 7-yard pass from Bert Jones (Toni Linhart kick). Packers 20–13. Drive:
Top passers
GB – Jerry Tagge – 10/16, 109 yards, INT
BAL – Bert Jones – 7/16, 88 yards, TD, INT
Top rushers
GB – MacArthur Lane – 22 rushes, 36 yards, 2 TD
BAL – Lydell Mitchell – 18 rushes, 63 yards
Top receivers
GB – Jon Staggers – 3 receptions, 52 yards
BAL – Lydell Mitchell – 5 receptions, 47 yards :

#### Week 3

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Lions | 3 | 10 | 6 | 0 | 19 |
| • Packers | 0 | 8 | 10 | 3 | 21 |

#### Week 9

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Bears | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| • Packers | 0 | 10 | 0 | 10 | 20 |

### Standings

NFC Central :
| viewtalkedit | W | L | T | PCT | DIV | CONF | PF | PA | STK |
| Minnesota Vikings | 10 | 4 | 0 | .714 | 4–2 | 8–3 | 310 | 195 | W3 |
| Detroit Lions | 7 | 7 | 0 | .500 | 3–3 | 6–5 | 256 | 270 | L1 |
| Green Bay Packers | 6 | 8 | 0 | .429 | 3–3 | 4–7 | 210 | 206 | L3 |
| Chicago Bears | 4 | 10 | 0 | .286 | 2–4 | 4–7 | 152 | 279 | L2 |

## Awards and records

* Chester Marcol, NFL Leader, Field Goals Made, (25)
* Don Woods, NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year